The recent civil unrest in Los Angeles, featuring loads of obstruction of (and violent aggression directed towards) Federal agents rounding up illegal immigrants for adjudication and deportation, has once again exposed the vast divide between Democrat-run cities and the rest of America. With both the California Governor and Los Angeles Mayor insisting that efforts to enforce immigration laws are producing the lawlessness we now see (apparently having convinced themselves that criminals will behave themselves as long as the police leave them alone), it is unsurprising both are content to watch police cars set on fire, rioters blocking roads, and local police pelted with rocks. Although their views, which match those of their Leftist Party’s leaders, might seem to be both incredibly illogical and a gross dereliction of their oaths of office, there may, in fact, be a method to their madness that deserves our scrutiny and understanding.

Aligning themselves with those whom they perceive are victims is today a core and unshakable philosophy of the Democrat Party establishment, and they believe the vast majority of the injustice in America is driven by hateful biases embedded in our culture, our laws, and our institutions. Managing to somehow be oblivious to the enormous political power they continue to wield throughout our nation while simultaneously insisting they and their followers are continually being victimized, Democrats have managed to magically convince themselves that the millions upon millions of illegal immigrants in American today are being victimized by unjust federal immigration laws (most of which, ironically, Democrats have helped to pass) and the entrenched bigotries that have (whoopsie!) allowed those who have broken our immigration laws to spend years receiving free educations, free healthcare, free food, free housing, free cell phones, free money, and a host of other benefits not available to our country’s own citizens. Victimization is, as many have observed, a surprisingly sweet deal in this case.

Were all the love and money Democrats insist on showering on illegal immigrants, whom they now believe should be called “undocumented citizens” to avoid giving offense, an example of simple—if overwrought—empathy for those who are suffering difficulties, this would be a fine example of the open-hearted generosity for which Americans are justly known. However, the unmitigated rage that springs from Democrats whenever a MS-13 gang member is apprehended or a felon deported seems to spring from a more frightening and pathological corner of their collective psyche.

The crux of the issue seems to be that many Democrats’ sympathies for those whom they believe have been victimized spring from their own identities as victims of a nation that they feel neither welcomes nor values them. Whether they are angry over historical bigotries, furious with the patriarchy, oppressed by the vicissitudes of capitalism, misunderstood by their parents, or were simply unable to score a Prom date a decade before, the soul-deep hurt that is often expressed in the many TikTok confessionals and crying jags that seem a rite of passage for today’s crop of overeducated and underappreciated Democrats speaks to spirit that is less understanding and more vengeful. How else to explain the bizarre lack of concern for crime victims and beleaguered taxpayers who daily bear the brunt of runaway illegal immigration in America today? If a illegal immigrant who has committed a crime is arrested, it is a scandal of monumental proportions, but the suffering of the victim of of that crime is treated as an annoyance that must be quickly swept aside and forgotten. 

To say there is a hurt and angry child residing in a dark corner of the minds of many Democrats does not seem an exaggeration, and lashing out at those in charge of a world they feel has neglected their feelings and needs seems more predictive of their beliefs and actions than any coherent political philosophy. Hence, many Democrats can simultaneously love Bernie Sanders while ignoring the irony of a multi-millionaire Socialist crusading against the oligarchy. They can coo over their electric cars while remaining blissfully unaware of the horrible environmental impacts of mining the minerals needed to produce them. They can prance across their college campuses chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” without giving a thought to the fact they are actually advocating for the slaughter of millions of Jews in Israel. They can cheer for giving hormones to “transsexual” children to stunt their puberty and thoughtlessly neglect the lifetime of horrible health and psychological problems this drug regime will likely cause.

The unquestioning embrace of of illegal immigrants by many Democrats similarly ignores nuance, contradictions, and troublesome facts in a quest to punish Americans whom they deem unworthy, unenlightened, and uneducated. Having convinced themselves that their moral purity allows them to erase from existence the victims of the open border policies they support because those who enter our nation without permission are the true victims, Democrats brook no discussion of the dire daily consequences for individuals, communities, and our nation as a whole. This is neither logical nor fair, but it does provide a clear conscience for those who wish to be unburdened by the frustrating complexities and ambiguities of the world we all must inhabit. 

The plain truth that victimization is often a two-way street is impossible to acknowledge for those smug and delusional Leftists who today proudly proclaim they are prepared to kill an ICE agent if given an opportunity. It’s easy—and perhaps peculiarly satisfying to some—to throw a brick or hurl an insult. However, sitting down and having a discussion that extends beyond facile sloganeering or making threats requires making the effort to understand the world is full of victims (no one is unique is this regard), so one needs to acknowledge a variety of needs and grievances that can be messy and contradictory. 

To insist that the so-called rights of illegal immigrants are more important than the rights of others is wrong—and fairly infantile at its root.